Advent Chaos

 

My kids can’t wait till tomorrow as they can start their chocolate advent calendars. They have been staring at the boxes for a few weeks, as I bought them early so we could have different ones. I have been writing a regular Advent/Christmas blog for the last week or so, reviewing different Christmas and Advent books. There are so many out there!

I never knew about Advent devotionals, until a few years ago. It seemed such a wonderful thing to do with the children, making Christmas extra special, building up to Christmas Day. We usually gave up reading the Advent book by the end of February.

It turns out, December is utter chaos. Not even because of the extra meetings or demands. That in itself is enough for me to think hibernation might be a healthy option. If only NaNoWriMo could be in December. What a great excuse that would be! Usually, by the time December arrives, I’m a little Elabi weary and have a lot of other activities besides writing that I would like to do. Not sure that is the supposed outcome of NaNoWriMo, but it doesn’t particularly set me on a habitual writing path. Instead, I simply push myself to write enough words during November.

Every January, I tell myself that this year, we’ll skip December, and go straight from November into January, because December is such a stressful time for our family. But when it’s near the end of November, I see a beautiful Advent book and decide that this will help to ground us all, calm all fears and chaos and will undo any sugar damage. Oh, and my kids will actually sit down and listen to a story.

December dreams can be so fragile, can't they?!

Well, this year, we have been practising reading together. And it’s worked very well so far. Having reviewed a few Advent devotionals, I’m getting hopeful that this might be the year where December doesn’t feel like one long, 31-day disaster, but might be filled with hope and anticipation. Especially as a friend has designed one that only has ten sessions, with not too much glitter and glue involved. I’m quite confident we could manage ten moments of Christmas preparation together. Definitely manage to do all sessions before the end of January.

I love the idea of regular habits and lifestyles. In our family, we manage regular mealtimes and have habits around meals. We manage regular bedtimes, again, with a set of habits. Thanks to having a puppy, I have regular getting-up times. That’s where regular or habitual stops. Regular writing moments aren’t regular either. Usually, they’re in the evening. But some days, they might be in the afternoon, waiting for my kids to finish classes. I tried daily journaling. At least I got a lovely journal out of it. With a tri-monthly entry, about every other year. Still love the idea, though. Maybe I should put a new journal on my Christmas list.

Anyone else who doesn’t seem to be able to lead a standard, regulated, organised lifestyle?

Maressa Mortimer is Dutch but lives in the beautiful Cotswolds, England with her husband and four (adopted) children. Maressa is a homeschool mum as well as a pastor’s wife, so her writing has to be done in the evening when peace and quiet descend on the house once more. She loves writing Christian fiction, as it’s a great way to explore faith in daily life. Because of her interest in writing, Maressa is part of Creativity Matters: Find Your Passion For Writing, an anthology encouraging people to write.

Her debut novel, Sapphire Beach, was published in December 2019, and her first self published novel, Walled City, came out in December 2020, followed by Viking Ferry, a novella. Beyond the Hills is the second book in the Elabi Chronicles, and was released in 2021, followed by stand-alone novel Burrowed, released in 2022. All of Maressa’s books are available from her website, www.vicarioushome.com, Amazon or local bookshops.